The Final Goodbye
by Eilinora
Summary: This takes place at the scene of Axel's death, only this time Roxas is there, appearing from Sora so he and Axel can say goodbye. AkuRoku. Due to my old writing style, it's filled with purple angst.


He could feel himself fading. The attack he had performed to drive away the numerous Dusks and preserve the safety of this boy, it was taking everything from him. It had already absorbed his strength, and it was now eating away at his body. He knew that it was the fate of a Nobody to fade away into nothingness, to disappear from existence, and he was now fulfilling that prewritten destiny.

_If only I could have seen him one more time…_

Roxas. The name filled his mind, even now. The boy he had grown so close to… Maybe Roxas had remembered it as no more than a friendship, but he knew that in-between the ties of friendship, there had been woven a thread of something more…

Perhaps his thoughts were affecting his eyes as well. For, when he opened his eyes to look upon the one he had just now saved, the boy who had reminded him so much of Roxas, he was no longer there. Instead, there stood the form of the person he had just been thinking of.

His strength was gone; he couldn't even summon enough to sit up. But his will remained, and as long as he could see Roxas beside him, that would be all he needed. Through sheer willpower, stemming from the need to be with him again, he forced his fatigued and dying limbs to move, straining with every ounce of what remained of his being, until he stood in front of his Roxas. His body swayed in its spot, and shook with every labored breath he took. Now, his will had also been exhausted, and he could feel himself begin to fall once more… But before he could hit the ground, he threw his arms upward in a desperate motion and grabbed the boy's shoulders, using him to remain at least partially upright. He knew that if he fell, he wouldn't be able to get back up, and he'd miss this final chance to be with Roxas…

He felt the boy sag slightly under his weight, and he felt guilty for burdening him so, but he didn't let him go. He slid his hands behind his shoulders, searching blindly, until his fingers found each other and clasped together, locking him in his embrace. There was no more time to hold back, he had to do what he'd restrained himself from doing ever since he had first found Roxas wandering memoryless in that city. Soon, there wouldn't be another chance to do so. He held the boy as tightly as he could, trying to imprint everything about him into his memory. But his body was beginning to lose its ability to sense the outside world, and the feeling of holding Roxas in his arms was barely registered by his mind.

_This is the last time I'll be able to hold you…_

Although he didn't have enough energy to speak, he tried to convey everything through the embrace. Didn't he know by now how much he'd miss him, how he _had_ missed him, when they were apart? Surely he must have realized it by this point…

Thoughts and memories continued to fly through his mind. The way Roxas had made him feel emotions that a person without a heart was never supposed to experience, how there was joy in being around him and sadness in being apart… Devastation when Roxas had left the Organization, hope when he had managed to find him again, and crushing sorrow when Roxas had said that he couldn't remember and wanted him to leave him alone. And then, such a level of frustration and distress when he _did_ remember, but too late… How would Roxas make him feel now, in his last minutes of existence? Would his response bring anger, joy, or depression, or would he remain silent and let him disappear with only anticipation of what his answer could be?

And then, Roxas finally spoke. "Axel," he said, his voice quiet, shy, and hesitant, as though he was terrified of saying the wrong thing. "I do remember… Everything…" His eyes, too, held a medley of feelings— Guilt and confusion and worry, but above all else, an overwhelming sadness. He had pieced together the last shards of his broken memories, just in time for them to cause sorrow, as the person who had filled them was now about to disappear. "I'm sorry that I couldn't remember sooner… before…"

Roxas's apology was nearly lost on Axel's ears, which were failing in sync with the rest of him. But he had heard enough. At least he could remember him now… At least he would understand why he had done what he did to find him… Slowly, the world faded into silence as another of his senses gave out.

_That was the last I'll ever hear of your voice…_

His surroundings continued to dissolve, taking his senses along with them, until he was left with only rapidly-fading vision. He tried to hold Roxas tighter, as though he was the anchor that bound him to this world for just a few seconds longer, but he was unable to summon any strength to move his numb hands, and his grip only loosened. He began to sink downward again, but then he stopped. Something held him upright… Unable to feel what was going on, he looked down, and saw that Roxas had finally returned his embrace, and had kept him standing by holding him in his arms. For a brief moment, Axel was confused as to how the significantly smaller boy could hold him up with such ease… and then remembered that his body was now barely existent, and had gone from a solid to what seemed like unusually dense smoke.

He saw Roxas's face, which was now at eye level, and through his blurred line of sight he detected the tears that went down his cheeks. And then, the darkness engulfed his vision, and he could no longer see.

_That was the last time I'll ever see your face…_

With all his senses gone, he could no longer tell what was going on. He could only trust that he was still with Roxas… And, as he finally managed to gather the energy to speak, he could only hope that he would actually speak his last words, and that Roxas would hear them.

_This will be the last time I'm with you… Unless…_

Giving a tired grin, more out of habit than of conscious decision, he quietly said, "Don't worry. We'll meet again, in the next life..." He had said nearly the exact same thing the last time he'd left Roxas, only then he'd followed it with a comment that he doubted his own words. Because, could Nobodies even have a 'next life'? If they had no being, no heart, no _soul_, then what was left to pass on to another life? But now he knew, and he was confident in his words. For, Roxas made him feel like he had a heart… And perhaps that would be enough.

He fell silent once more. Now the world was quiet for both him and Roxas. For just a moment, the world stood still, allowing the two to remain in their final embrace for one last eternal second. And then it continued, and the rest of Axel faded away, until Roxas was left clutching only thin air. He sank to the ground, grieving for his newly-remembered, newly-lost old friend.

And Sora never understood why, upon watching Axel fade away, he had fallen to the ground and shed tears of sorrow for the man he never even knew.


End file.
